Living in the city you can sometimes miss the fresh air, the freedom of the great outdoors, being one with nature…

or so I’m told. I haven’t noticed yet but I enjoy at least a few hours a day outside in the green parks of London running. Perks of the unemployed blogger.

So here we are in Switzerland, late summer. We are soaking in the great outdoors, relishing the views of nature, breathing the fresh air. Let’s go for a quick hike, he says. Well, hey, why not? I think, still high on adrenaline from my Swiss Alps paragliding session.

It’s not that I don’t enjoy hiking, I do. There’s two problems here: he says quick, but I know him, its never quick. And the second, there’s a lot of unknowns out there…animals, terrain..oh say, a path?

We ventured to the east end of Engelberg to the Fuerenalp cable car. At the far end of the cable car, we see the liking of a path leading to who knows where, but we take it. Approximately ten yards in, we are in the midst of a cow pasture. Exactly the type of things I was unsure about. But we make friends and pose for pictures.

Ahead we see another cable car of sorts, the kind for only food and necessary supplies to be sent across a huge canyon to the top of a mountain. Please, please tell me, not people.

Now we’re coming up on a river of pure glacier water. It’s freezing but actually kind of refreshing after the sunny heat of the day. 

Obviously, stopping for lots of photos.

And some hair whipping..

We followed the water to the end and found this beautiful waterfall, complete with a full rainbow.  Yes, a full circle rainbow.

One of the prettiest hikes I’ve ever been on! So worth it, even if it wasn’t a quick little hike…